Vimeo Vs. YouTube: Which is Better for Video Sharing?

Just like YouTube, Vimeo is another popular video sharing website with a highly engaging but targeted audience. This MarketingWit article will take the merits of both websites into account, and help you determine which one is best for video sharing and your business. Vimeo or YouTube?

Anand Karwa

Why the name Vimeo?The word 'Vimeo' is as a combination of the words 'video' and 'me'. It can also be anagrammatized into the word 'movie'.

Pictures speak more than words, and videos convey more than pictures. These days, people do not want to read in order to gain information. They are just too bored or lazy to read. Why go through some text when you can obtain the same information by watching a video online? And which website comes to your mind when you hear "online videos"? YouTube. Duh!

But there are other video sharing websites like YouTube, and if you are a content marketer, or a brand, or a filmmaker, or an artist, then you might have also heard about Vimeo. YouTube and Vimeo are the two most popular websites for sharing and watching videos for entertainment and learning. Vimeo and YouTube, both are good in their own terms but, this MarketingWit article will explain which is better for video sharing.

Vimeo vs. YouTube

1. Video Quality & Traffic✦ Professionals believe that Vimeo offers better video quality than YouTube. Videos converted by Vimeo have higher bit rates than the videos with the same resolution on YouTube. Bit rate, while not being the only factor in deciding video quality, and its effect on the overall quality cannot be ignored. ✦ At the time of writing of this article, YouTube is the third most popular website in the world as well as in the United States. According to Alexa, Vimeo is the 98th most visited website in world. So, there is no comparison between YouTube and Vimeo when we are talking about traffic. Yes, YouTube videos are watched by millions of random users, but they do count if it is the number of views or shares are your priority.

2. Search Engine Visibility✦ Vimeo and other video sharing websites get lesser views and subsequently lesser traffic than YouTube. ✦ YouTube is a Google-owned company, so it shouldn't come as a surprise when you learn that YouTube videos rank higher in a Google Search than those on Vimeo.

3. Ads and Monetization✦ Vimeo is well aware of the fact that many short-film makers live off the revenue generated by their films, and has introduced Tip Jar for Vimeo Pro and Plus users. Any viewer can donate as much as he likes to the film creator via the Tip Jar. Unlike other ad agencies, Vimeo doesn't take any commission out of the tips, and deposits the tips from this Tip Jar to the PayPal account of the filmmaker. ✦ Using YouTube, you can easily monetize your videos with pre-roll, post-roll, and overlay ads. All you need is content which is in demand, and doesn't violate YouTube's Terms of Service.

4. Community✦ Vimeo has a community of helpful professionals from all around the globe, who give constructive feedback about your work. ✦ YouTube doesn't have a dedicated community of experts.

5. Quality of Content✦ Vimeo is a place for showcasing artistic and amazing content. This makes it easier for anyone to find high quality content easily on Vimeo. ✦ YouTube, on the other hand, has far more videos than Vimeo. So, for most of the searches, you will find many homemade and cat videos for a single high quality video.

6. Layout of the Website✦ Vimeo's clean interface along with better video quality, and video player customizations will save you a lot of your brand-building efforts. Just like YouTube, you also get an option to place your brand logo on all of your videos so that they are easily recognizable. On Vimeo's interface, the video gets the maximum space, and hence more user attention. ✦ We have no gripe against the layout of the video player on YouTube, but Vimeo makes it more appealing. On YouTube, the video player is surrounded by tens of distracting things like related-videos, comments, ads, etc. This distracts the viewer from focusing on the video.

7. Privacy Options✦ Vimeo users can also choose whom to share their password-protected videos with. Only authorized users can watch the videos after entering the password. You can also specify domain permissions like who can embed your videos and who cannot. ✦ YouTube has two options for video privacy―Unlisted and Private videos.

8. Membership ✦ Users with a Basic Vimeo account can upload only one HD video per week. Though, it has been observed by many that it takes longer to upload a video on Vimeo. ✦ YouTube is free to use. Users can not only watch unlimited amount of videos but can also upload countless videos. For new users, there is a restriction on the duration of the video that can be uploaded, but it gets removed with time. What else? YouTube lets you upload your films in Ultra HD (4K).

9. Made for Content Marketers✦ Vimeo caps the number of views on commercial videos to 250,000 but YouTube doesn't. ✦ YouTube allows its users to upload all but adult videos. You can upload your product demos, walk-throughs, and TV commercials free of cost. You can also include a link to your website in the video description for driving additional traffic.

So, here is the ultimate question:

Vimeo or YouTube: Which is Best for Your Business?

Well, it really depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you are into an entertainment/infotainment business, and want to earn to some revenue while getting more shares and views, i.e., more exposure, then YouTube is where you should upload your videos. YouTube is a personal and marketing platform, whereas Vimeo is a platform for professionals.

On the other hand, if you want to showcase your creative work, and are also looking forward to receiving some genuine feedback from filmmaking experts and artists, then Vimeo will suit your requirements best.

Do let us know which one out of these two would you prefer for sharing your videos and why through the comments section below.